Top and right: Former Langara student Lindsey Luckey teaching chair yoga to a group of students with MS at the ASH KELLY photos Multiple Sclerosis Natural Health Strategies Symposium at the Vancouver Central Library on Saturday, Jan. 25. a=} >| = ys ~ 7 ~) Hae. ~ > J . ath er ¥\' wi Grad chooses yoga over meds Grad with MS found relief through yoga, now wants to teach others By ASH KELLY oga and nutrition have replaced medication for 26-year-old Lind- sey Luckey, who lives with mul- tiple sclerosis. Luckey was studying fine arts at Langara when she was diagnosed in 2007. After graduating, she returned to Langara and completed her yoga teacher training in February 2013. Now an instructor, she taught a chair yoga session at the MS Natural Health Strat- egies Symposium last Saturday. During the early stages of her dis- ease, Luckey took drugs prescribed by her neurologist. The side effects were worse than any MS symptoms she had experienced. “IT would always wake up in cold sweats. My whole body shaking, fin- gers and toes just aching, my whole body aching,” said Luckey. After seeing a pamphlet for iyengar yoga at an MS clinic, Luckey made the decision to forgo medication, and in- stead manage her disease using alter- native means. Iyengar focuses on posture and tech- nique, but it’s also adaptive. The prac- tice incorporates props like blocks, straps, walls and chairs to assist stu- dents. Despite that, it allows students the full benefits of poses, which is why Luckey said it is appropriate for people with MS. “One day, they might be feeling great; they can stand on one leg no problem,” Luckey said. “Then the next week’s class, they might just feel like they’re spinning and they have no balance.” The benefits of yoga for those with MS include strength and balance im- provement, especially in the legs, which are commonly affected early in the disease. Luckey stressed that physical im- provements, important as they are, aren’t the only benefit of practicing yoga. “Tt helps with a lot of the emotional effects that come along with having MS. Especially fear,” Lucky said. “How am I going to support myself? Am I going to be able to have family? Am I going to be able to have kids one day? How am I going to pay for all my healthcare treatments and my supple- ments, and vitamins? That’s huge, there’s always this underlying fear with MS.” Through yoga, Luckey is able to overcome the anxiety of living with MS. “What it really comes down to is acceptance, just being OK with where you are, being grateful for what you do have,” she said. Luckey will be returning to Langara in March to take a course specializing in yoga instruction for students with mobility issues and chronic conditions. She hopes to find a space where she can offer a holistic approach to MS pa- tients by incorporating her training as a yoga instructor and a nutritionist. “In addition to a regular yoga prac- tice, following a specific diet has also had a huge impact on my illness,” she said. Anuradha Hannah of the Langara yoga teacher training faculty spoke highly of Luckey. “Lindsey has embraced life and the experiences it has given her. She is ex- ceptional in her attitude and outlook, positive and forward facing.” 66 It helps witha lot of the emotional effects that come along with hav- ing MS. Especially fear LINDSEY LUCKEY Healing program expands BCMA says the therapies taught in the program are ‘medically useless’ By LESLIE KAM energy healing program has ex- panded to satellite campuses in Na- naimo, Edmonton and Whitehorse this semester. The program has been around for 15 years, with Langara being the first post-secondary school to offer certifi- cates to students in this field of alterna- tive medicine. According to program instructor Monica Heuser, certified energy heal- ers restore balance in a person’s ener- gy field. Dr. Lloyd Oppel of the British Colum- bia Medical Association is critical of the program’s expansion. “We are not in favour of anything that hasn’t been proven to work,” said Oppel. “The energy fields they claim to see do not exist.” The BCMA called the program’s therapies “medically useless” in a 2009 article in the Globe and Mail. Ruth Lamb, program coordinator and instructor of the energy healing program, defended the practice. “The [BCMA] is the only organiza- tion that has publicly criticized the pro- gram,” Lamb said. “Other than them, [energy healing] is welcomed by the health care profes- sion.” She added that energy healing has been recognized by Vancouver Coastal Health and clinics for 15 years. Integrative energy healing is based on principles of Western scientific en- ergy medicine and ancient Eastern teachings. It is a form of holistic health that focuses on the human body’s en- ergy field and its goal is to awaken the body’s innate healing potential. Langara currently offers the integra- tive energy healing intensive program and the two-year advanced certificate program. The intensive program is a prerequisite to the advanced course and currently the only program avail- able at the satellite campuses. This spring, integrative energy heal- ing students will be working with nurs- es in high-stress areas at Surrey Me- morial Hospital as part of a research project, on the request of the Fraser Health Authority. I angara’s controversial integrative Langara bookstore selling health-activity trackers Bookstore began stocking Fitbits as part of college’s WellnessFits program By DAVID LA RIVIERE ing the Fitbit Zip and Flex health- activity trackers to help improve the college’s general health and fitness. Fitbits actively monitor personal health statistics that can be tracked on computers and supported mobile de- vices. According to Amelia Lau, a book- store manager, they were initially brought in as part of a program started through the Langara human resources department called WellnessFits. Well- nessFits is a Canadian Cancer Society- Te: Langara bookstore started sell- supported program that helps busi- nesses and organizations keep their employees healthy and productive by encouraging physical activity. Staff and employees at Langara were the main reason for stocking the Fit- bits, but Adams hopes that students buy them too. “We hope they sell well, as that might mean that employees and stu- dents are taking fitness seriously,” said Mark Adams, director of ancillary ser- vices at the bookstore. The Fitbit Zip sells for $59.95 at the bookstore, and the Flex sells for $99.95. Adams won his Fitbit in a golf tour- nament and has lost 15 pounds since he started using it. Of all of its functions, Adams takes advantage of the calorie tracker the most. “The calorie tracker on the app is amazing. You can enter on the fly and see exactly where you are at.” Even though Fitbit Inc. has been gaining momentum in the past few years, their activity trackers aren’t as popular among Vancouver’s young adults as fitness trackers like the Nike+FuelBand. Sebastian Kovacs, a Langara arts and sciences student, has never heard of Fitbit activity trackers but is open to the idea. “T might buy one if I ever got around to exercising,” Kovacs said. Whether you're a fitness enthusiast or just a regretful student trying to jus- tify that second cheddar bacon burger you had for lunch, a Fitbit activity tracker might be just what you need. Mark Adams, director of ancillary services at the Langara bookstore, sporting his Fitbit tracker. Adams says he has lost 15 pounds since he started using it. DAVID LA RIVIERE photo